Modi’s public aura is such, he made Cameron feel as ‘stranger’ in UK: Jaitley

New Delhi, Mar 8 : Among many qualities as a public leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a "quick learner" especially in the context of addressing different audience and such has been Modi's public aura that he could make even David Cameron feel as 'stranger' in his own country, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Friday.

"I interacted with former British Prime Minister David Cameron once. I asked him what has been one big mistake during his stint, I thought he will refer to Brexit. But he said one big mistake was that I went to function along with Narendra Modi in London where Indian Prime Minister was to address NRIs and I was made to feel like a stranger in my own country," Mr Jaitley said here.

Releasing five books on the speeches of Mr Modi since 2014, Mr Jaitley said for making powerful public speech more as a statesman - one has to be a "quick learner".

This quality pervades in Mr Modi as he learnt quickly to speak on various issues ranging from local issues in Gujarat to terror issue and even as global platform like the United Nations.

"We have seen in his political journey...Prime Minister has undergone a learning process and along side he kept grip on facts and figures," Mr Jaitley said.

"If you are an ordinary political worker, you may speak on any subject in every manner. But sometimes, that stage comes when your level of speech, language and tone have to be prime ministerial," he said.

In what could be seen as a sarcastic dig at some political rivals, Mr Jaitley said "some speeches are painful to listen to".

"At times, an ordinary worker can at best think of an immediate headline or next morning headlines....but a good speech is one which is remembered and cherished in long term perspective," he said.

In this context, the Finance Minister referred to speeches made by the founding fathers of the constitution and said most of them were extempore.

Similarly, he said late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's one of the best speeches in Parliament would be during the obituary references made to Pt Jawaharlal Nehru.